Elements of Literature Course 5

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Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,°
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue° the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
He did a lazy sway . . .
He did a lazy sway . . .
To the tune o’ those Weary Blues.
With his ebony hands on each ivory key
He made that poor piano moan with melody.
O Blues!
Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool
He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.
Sweet Blues!
Coming from a black man’s soul.
O Blues!
In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan—
“Ain’t got nobody in all this world,

Ain’t got nobody but ma salf.
I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’
And put ma troubles on the shelf.”
Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more—

“I got the Weary Blues
And I can’t be satisfied.
Got the Weary Blues
And can’t be satisfied—
I ain’t happy no mo’

And I wish that I had died.”
And far into the night he crooned that tune.
The stars went out and so did the moon.
The singer stopped playing and went to bed
While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.
He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.

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Here on the edge of hell
Stands Harlem—
Remembering the old lies,
The old kicks in the back,
The old “Be patient”
They told us before.
Sure, we remember.
Now when the man at the corner store
Says sugar’s gone up another two cents,
And bread one,
And there’s a new tax on cigarettes—
We remember the job we never had,
Never could get,
And can’t have now
Because we’re colored.
So we stand here
On the edge of hell
In Harlem
And look out on the world
And wonder
What we’re gonna do
In the face of what
We remember.

1. What would you say is the most powerful image in “The Weary Blues”? Why?
2. In "The Weary Blues," how does the message of the blues singer’s first verse contrast with that of his second?
3. What are some of the words in the poem that help to create a slow, weary, melancholy mood?
4. Review your Quickwrite to see how well this poem fits your concept of blues music. Describe how the poem’s structure suggests the rhythms of blues music. Point out examples of alliteration and onomatopoeia that also add to the poem’s wailing, musical effect.
5. How would you describe the emotional effect of the image in line 32?
6. What similes in the poem’s last line describe how the singer sleeps? What do you think the last five words suggest?

1. Did any of the adjectives in your Quickwrite describe the feelings of the speaker in this poem? If not, what adjective would best describe the speaker’s tone?
2. Name the specific hardships and injustices that the people of Harlem remember, according to the speaker in the poem.
3. In “Harlem,” what does the speaker suggest when he says “Here on the edge of hell / Stands Harlem—”?
4. What is the effect of the repetition of “remember”?
5. Do you interpret the poem’s final stanza as an expression of powerlessness, or as a threat? Defend your opinion.
6. How would you read this poem and “The Weary Blues” aloud to express the tones you hear in them?

Create a chart analyzing the attitudes of the speakers in "Harlem" and "I, Too" (page 733). Note the ways the speakers are similar and the ways they are different.

In a brief essay, compare and contrast Walt Whitman's "I celebrate myself, and sing myself" (page 347) with Hughes's "I, Too" (page 733).

Write the opening paragraph for a newspaper article about the Harlem described in "Harlem." Include a portion of an interview with an imagined resident of Hughes's Harlem.

Write brief liner notes (400 to 800 words) for a recording of classic blues songs. Your notes should briefly explain what the blues are and how they developed, as well as tell a bit about each of the blues artists (your choice) represented in the anthology.

Choose any passage in "The Weary Blues" and set it to a rhythmic or other musical accompaniment. Or adapt an existing blues melody to the poem. When you've brought music to Hughes's verse, perform your work for the class.